Hosting Components on UnofficialSF
When we learn about a good component, we seek to:
- create a page for it on unofficialsf. This can either be a Post or a Page.
- make sure the install instructions on that page provide links to unmanaged and managed packages.
Managed packages can be important if there are collisions between support files. For example, many components use Andy Fawcett’s metadata service. You can install a new component that has this apex class via an unmanaged package if you already have that class on your org. The Managed Package process puts each component into its own namespace.
Each dev edition org can only host a single managed package. Fortunately they’re free. If you’re trying to create a managed package for your component, do the following:
- Create a new free Developer Edition at https://developer.salesforce.com/signup
- Deploy your component to this edition and create an Unmanaged Package in the Package Manager
- Create a Managed Package of that component. For namespace, use usf_mycomponent, where mycomponent is similar to the name of your component. So if you’re publishing a Lookup component you might pick usf_lookup as your namespace. Use “Release” and not “Beta” in your settings
- Test that your packages work and then publish the links
